Crockpot BBQ Chicken Meal Prep Recipe

Crockpot BBQ chicken with lentils makes for a delicious and healthy meal prep, thanks to the unexpected ingredient: cranberries!

Chicken in the slow cooker tastes great simmering for 4 to 6 hours in your favorite barbecue sauce and some frozen (or fresh) cranberries. The addition of cranberries gives this crockpot barbecue chicken a tangy taste that you'll appreciate, and the chicken is fall-apart-tender after simmering in the pot for hours. Serve it right over a bed of steamed lentils for a protein-loaded dish. It is really easy to prepare.

What Are Steamed Lentils?

Well, you can buy steamed lentils from Melissa's for example; it's found shrink-wrapped in the refrigerated part of the produce department, typically. All you need to do is open the package and you're good to go. You can use them cold, at room temperature, or reheat them if you like. But you don't need to cook them. They hold their shape in salads, too, which is nice. If you aren't able to find steamed lentils or you just want to cook them on your own, that's fine too. The packaged lentils weigh about 9 ounces.

Crockpot BBQ Chicken Meal Prep Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup BBQ sauce
• 1 cup cranberries, frozen or fresh
• 1 (9-ounce) package Melissa's steamed lentils

How to Make Crockpot BBQ Chicken Meal Prep

This is so easy, you'll love it. You take the chicken breasts, barbecue sauce and cranberries and put them all in the slow cooker. Just like that. You don't really need salt and pepper; the barbecue sauce adds all the flavor. And the cranberries give it that something extra that puts this dish over the edge. After several hours, it's ready to eat. Take the chicken out and transfer it to a plate. Using a fork, shred the chicken to break it up. Combine some of the sauce with the cooked chicken, taking care to include the cranberries, too. Then serve it all right over lentils. Easy!

How to Serve and Store BBQ Chicken Meal Prep With Cranberries

To add some veggies, serve this with a green salad and some cole slaw, like the avocado slaw on our site. It's also great with some crusty bread. (You could even serve it sloppy Joe style, on a roll, if desired, like a messy sandwich—with or without the lentils). This slow cooker bbq chicken meal prep would also taste good over some rice, too. If you're getting it ready for the week and not eating it for dinner right away, this meal prep recipe can live in air-tight containers for 3 to 4 days.

You can easily freeze this dish in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months, including the lentils. How cool is that? Reheat in the microwave or pop it onto the stovetop over medium-low heat, adding a little water or extra barbecue sauce as needed.

Substitutions and Alterations

• Feel free to use chicken thighs instead of breasts, or leftover turkey.
• Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
• Serve over brown or white rice, or cauliflower rice if desired, along with or instead of the lentils.
• Farro or quinoa would also be delicious here, and add some fiber and protein, respectively.
• Cook the lentils yourself if desired; you'll need about a cup of dried lentils to yield what you'll need for this recipe.
• Make this recipe paleo with a paleo-friendly barbecue sauce and cauliflower rice.

READ MORE: BBQ Pulled Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

LOVE CRANBERRIES and BBQ? Try Cranberry BBQ Vegan Meatballs

Watch how it's made: